Multi-Part Harmony:A Study Of Deconstruction Translation Theory As Illustrated By Benjamin And Derrida

Deconstruction translation theory, with its root in deconstruction philosophy, has been a topic of heated debate, especially regarding its rationality, ever since its conception. Taking this status quo into consideration, this dissertation undertakes a fundamental and comprehensive critique of the philosophy of deconstruction and its expression in the translation field in light of its progress from Benjamin to Derrida, two of the most outstanding scholars of this theory, in the hope of clarifying some of its key concepts. Hence, the dissertation goes further to explore the value of this translation theory for literary translation by scrutinizing the kinship between the theory and the literariness of literary works. Finally, it is argued that deconstruction translation theory strikes a multi-layer note of harmony through the channels of philosophy, language and literature, and thus distinguishes harmony as a major theme of the theory.The dissertation falls into seven chapters.Chapter One serves as an introduction of this study. It makes a brief investigation of the theme of harmony embedded in deconstruction theory, the significance of this theory for translation studies as a whole, and the genetic relationship between Derrida’s thought about translation and Benjamin’s as well. The author argues that the value of deconstruction as a translation theory is not only reflected in its profound insights about all the key issues of translation, but specifically in its enlightenment for literary translation, because all the major concepts of deconstruction translation theory, such as its negation of the fixed meaning and fixed interpretation of a text, its viewpoint about the task of translation/the translator as a pursuer of truth rather than a porter of meaning, and so on, are in perfect harmony with the literariness of literary works. Despite the literal meaning of destruction conveyed by its name, the deconstruction theory of translation actually strikes a forte note of harmony in language and highlights the theme of harmony in humanity thereafter, which is eloquently proved by its progress from Benjamin to Derrida. Though Benjamin did not label his thought with "deconstruction", the high level of genetic similarity between his thought about translation and Derrida’s actually identifies him as the origin of this school of thought of translation. Chapter Two is an in-depth theoretical review of the evolution of deconstruction translation theory from its philosophical origin, including a literature review of deconstruction as a school of philosophy and a theory of translation. The author argues that Heidegger’s idea of Dasein and Saussure’s thought of structuralism contribute most to the conception of deconstruction. Although deconstruction intends to distinguish itself from the other thoughts with its rebellious characteristics, it ends up in failure in its wrestling with traditional philosophy and Plato. Nevertheless, it does make itself stand out differently with a series of creative concepts such as differance, trace and dissemination because they reshuffle the traditional relationship between the signifier and the signified, restore the innate relevance of languages, refill languages with proactive vigor and hence retrieve an initial harmony in the language and the universe. Furthermore, these concepts all find powerful expression in translation via their interpretations about the fundamental issues of translation and bring to light the deconstruction theory of translation. To name some, deconstruction translation theory argues that the original does not enjoy the privilege of authority any longer; translation is not meant to transport meaning, but a regulated transformation of language; the goal of translation is to construct a harmonious world of language, and so on.In the meanwhile, the author points out that deconstruction as both a philosophy and a translation theory have encountered frequent misinterpretation both in China and the West due to the following four reasons:first, the obscurity of its prime writings is challenging for most readers; second, the loss of humanist spirit in this theory is traumatizing for appropriate interpretation of it, because scholars growing up in the tradition of new criticism are so addicted to wordplay that they tend to neglect the humanist spirit of the theory while applying it to the interpretation of literary works; third, most scholars’ view of its role as merely a methodology causes the loss of its philosophical significance; fourth, the combination of the oriental flavor of Zen and Derrida’s western style of argument causes great difficulty with reading comprehension. Therefore, it is of great necessity for scholars to make a close reading of all its major writings and interpret it in light of its philosophical origin so as to have a real grasp of its significance.Chapter Three consists of a close reading of two of Benjamin’s major works of translation and language:"The Task of the Translator" and "On Language as Such and On the Language of Man", which serves as a foundation for the interpretation of the major issues in Benjamin’s translation theory, including the nature and goal of translation,(un)translatability, the origin/the translation relationship, pure language, the task of the translator and the standard of translation. It is argued that on the one hand, the theme of harmony already makes its debut in Benjamin’s thought of translation; on the other hand, the harmony ends up dancing in fetters because of the overwhelming impact of religion upon Benjamin.Chapter Four is an exploration of the relationship between Benjamin and Derrida via an examination of Derrida’s writing of "Babel", half of which is Derrida’s interpretation of Benjamin. Just like what Joseph F. Graham points out in his article "Around and About Babel" that most of Benjamin’s thought is improved in Derrida’s theory, and "Babel" is a perfect evidence of this inheritance. Among other things, Derrida interprets Benjamin’s concept of pure language as truth while somehow reasonably maintaining its original religious stance and thus achieves a better balance between religion and humanity and brings this concept much closer to the human world. Like pure language, truth never really shows up physically to human beings, but we can become relevant to it via translation. Therefore, as Derrida says, translation is a kind of experience, and vice versa. In a word, Derrida’s thought of translation demonstrated in "Babel" brings to full play the harmony of language, and promotes the spirit of harmony in humanity sense.Chapter Five addresses Derrida’s translation theory specifically by making an analysis of his paper "What’s Relevant Translation?", which has triggered a great deal of misreadings. With a careful interpretation, it is argued that "relevant translation" is the translation that is meant to sublime, purify, regulate, internalize and redeem language. It is a milestone evidence of the internalization and sublimation of Benjamin’s translation theory by Derrida, in which the theme of harmony is interpreted via the relevance of language and things in general in such a profound manner that it is just like "the way an aeolian harp is touched by the wind". It is a vivid demonstration of the quintessential spirit of deconstruction.Chapter Six studies the application of deconstruction translation theory in literary translation with an interpretation of the literariness of literary works as the foundation. The result of the study shows that there are four enlightening tips for literary translation by deconstruction: first, literary translation should be faithful to the intention of the original text; second, literary translation should demonstrate the kinship among mundane languages; third, a deconstructive way of textual analysis is the prerequisite for literary translation; fourth, an "arcade" type of literal translation can be applied to literary translation. It is argued that the arcade literal translation is neither the literal nor the free translation in traditional sense, but a translation strategy meant to release the truth in the original text literally. In a word, the task of literary translation is to seek harmony in modes of intention between worldly languages, and thus retrieve the long lost pure language in the harmonious echo of languages.Chapter Seven is the conclusion. It makes a brief summary of the findings of the research as well as its theoretical significance. It is pointed out that harmony is a profound theme of deconstruction both as a philosophy and a translation theory. The connotation of harmony can be understood in the following two aspects:first, when deconstruction travels between the fields of philosophy, language, literature and translation, it demonstrates and makes full use of the relevance between them and creates a harmonious environment; second, the theory of deconstruction highlights the initial harmony in language and in universe respectively. As a result, the theme of harmony in deconstruction demonstrates itself as a multi-part symphony, symbolizing an ideal world in which things all enrich each other and grow up together.